


Rain

by high_spring_tide



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, It rains a lot on Luke's island, Rey doesn't understand non-desert weather
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 07:57:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13406859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/high_spring_tide/pseuds/high_spring_tide
Summary: Desert orphans bond through talking about the weather.





	Rain

The first time it rains on the island, Rey is delighted.

The rain falls onto the island, and the grey stones turn slick and the ground drinks the water up. The rain falls on the sea, and the impact of the raindrops adds another sort of motion to its tides and its churning.

Rey stands on a green, green hill, hands upraised and face turned towards the sky. It is raining, the same day she met Luke Skywalker. Surely that must be a good sign.

The second time it rains on the island, Rey is amazed, and a little bit puzzled.

It's the next morning, and the rain dangles from the sky in a silvery mist. Droplets of water gild blades of grass and speckle the stone, and the sea in the distance is lost in a haze. Rey watches it in wonder. It's lovely, but odd as well. This rain is so gentle. She hadn't known water could do that.

The rain lasts an hour or so, and then the sun returns. Luke won't talk to her, but at least he isn't trying very hard to make her leave.

It rains again, for about an hour that afternoon, and then again for most of the night. It rains, more often than not, while Luke does his chores and Rey follows him around the island. Luke seems resigned to the rain, does his best to keep it off with a poncho. Rey doesn't tire of the feeling of cool droplets on her skin and in her hair, but she does begin to worry.

The ninth time it rains on the island, Rey decides it's time to say something.

"Does it always rain so much, here?" she asks Luke, hovering behind him as he chisels shellfish off a boulder at low tide with a piece of stone.

"If you don’t like it here, kid, no one is making you stay," Luke replies.

"No, I don't mind it--I like it, actually. It's just--it's not a sign of some approaching disaster, is it? And it's not going to destroy the island?"

Luke stares at her for a minute. "You don’t know about rain at all, do you?"

"I do! It rained when I was fourteen."

Luke almost smiles. “It was like that on Tatooine,” he says. "It rained when I was four, and when I was twelve, and when I was seventeen. It took us weeks to recover from it, the last time.”

“Yes!” Rey says. “It rearranged everything. I went out the next day and the hills were carved into new shapes.”

Luke nods. “It swept away all the paths. And we’d have to watch out not to tumble into a new gorge.”

“My speeder was almost destroyed. I thought it was washed away, until I found it under a drift a week later.”

“Yeah, we had to dig out my neighbors' entire house one time. Still, it was beautiful.”

Rey smiles. “All the flowers. Ribbons of green everywhere. I stared at it for ages--I wanted to fix it in my mind forever.”

“Yes, the rain. . . it felt like a miracle every time,” Luke says. Then he turns back to the shellfish. “Well, it rains here all the time, as you’ve noticed. It’s normal and it won’t destroy the island. Nothing to be excited about.”

“So do you get sick of it, then?” Rey asks, a few silent minutes later. “The rain, the green?”

“Yeah, I suppose you do,” Luke says. “And then again, maybe . . ." He trails off. “Here, find a rock and help me with these mollusks, will you? If you’re going to be stay here, you may as well make yourself useful.” And then, a moment later: “No, no, you can’t just hack at them, you’ll crack the shells. Hold the rock like this.”

The rain picks up. Rey brushes the water out of her eyes and tries to mimic Luke’s motions. She smiles. It’s not training in the ways of the Force. But it’s a beginning.


End file.
